“I won’t make any promises to that, Lucca. I think a kiss would be worth getting hit a few times.” Hunter jokes.
Lucca smacks him hard on the arm before they both begin chuckling.
I smile sweetly at them and roll my eyes.
Boys will be boys.
“Well, now that that has been discussed lets go get something to eat, I’m starving.” I wrap my arms around both guys and they nod in agreement.
****
A few hours later, Hunter and Lucca head back out to where Tank and Kane have been working hard on building the extension to the barn.
I decide to get a much needed shower, since I still have a faint smell of death on me.
After a long hot shower, I decide to get dressed and help out Ruby with the cooking.
On my way down to the kitchen I pass little Ace who gives me a shy smile and then runs to the bathroom. I feel horrible for the poor kid.
As I step into the kitchen I’m overwhelmed with the scent of freshly cooked bread. I take a deep breath and close my eyes.
“Ruby, that smells so good.” I state as my mouth begins to water.
“Why thank you, sugar.”Ruby replies from the sink where she’s washing dishes.
“Do you need any help cooking super today?”
“I’m pretty much done, sugar. All I have to do now is to wait for the oven to beep.” She nods her head to the oven. I do think those boys of yours could use some help though.” She winks at me.
I open my mouth to say something to her, but she turns around drying her hands on a hand towel. She points back to me with the towel. “You don’t need to go explaining yourself, sugar. I know what you’re going through more than anyone. I can see how much you love both of those boys, and they love you just as much. Hold on to that love for as long as you can.” She looks away sadly her eyes filling with tears.
There’s definitely a story behind her words, but I can tell she’s done talking as she turns back to the sink. I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her in a hug.
I lay my head against her back and she begins to sob silently. I pull back as her sobs slow and she wipes her face.
“You’re such a sweet girl. I hope you don’t lose anymore of the ones you love.” She pulls out of my embrace and pats my cheek. “If you ever need to talk, sugar, come find me, ok?”
I nod. “Thank you.” I whisper as she turns and walks out of the kitchen.
I turn my attention to the window above the sink and smile as I watch Hunter and Lucca walk into the barn.
I rush out the door and run into the barn, patting all the horses on the noses as they greet me at the doors to their stalls.
As I reach the last stall I notice that the horse doesn’t come to greet me. I glance inside and scream in horror.
All the men come running to my side. “What’s wrong, Lex?” Hunter pushes his way to my side. I point into the stall with a shaky arm.
“Oh shit!” Hunter growls out as he grabs me into a hug trying to shield my eyes from the horrible sight. Tank is next to take a peek into the stall and he quickly turns to vomit, nearly hitting Lucca.
Hunter guides me away, but I can still hear the crunching the tearing of the flesh.
“How the hell did that even happen?” Lucca asks absently as he looks into the stall. “We looked her over multiple times. I never even noticed that anything was wrong. Hell, she never even acted like anything was wrong. Jesus. What the hell is going on?”
“What should we do?” Kane asks quietly.
We all look to each other, not knowing what to do.
Then everyone’s eyes land on me. “We have to kill that…..thing it’s a danger to us all.” I state then pull away from Hunter to walk back to the stall for one last look.
I hear the crunching sound still coming from the dead horse lying on its side. I watch closely as the bump on her side moves.
How did this happen? She was a healthy, but heavily pregnant horse.
None of it made any sense.
Tank lays his hands on my shoulders. “You don’t need to see this, sweetheart. Let Hunter take you to the house, and Lucca and I will get this mess cleaned up.”
I nod. “Ok, but make sure both of you are careful.” I point to them both sternly. “We have no idea how this happened, and I don’t want either of you getting hurt.” They nod and I turn to walk out with Hunter.
Kane and Kale follow us out.
“What do you think caused that?” Kale asks Kane behind us.
“I have no idea what could have caused that. I thought only the dead came back like that. I looked that horse over myself and never noticed any bites or even a scratch on her.” Kane shakes his head.
I stop, my mind quickly putting together the pieces. I turn around to face the guys. “I think I know what happened.” I take a deep breath. “You said she was healthy when you checked her out right?” Kane nods so I continue. “Well, what if she was about to give birth and something went wrong? I know it’s possible, but maybe the mother died and so did the baby but then the baby came back and…..well, you know the rest.”
“Should we worry about the mare coming back to life, or well dead?” Kale, questions.
“Shit, maybe I should tell Lucca and Tank just in case.” Kane curses as he quickly takes back off to the barn.
Hunter grabs my face and kisses my forehead. “You are one smart girl.” I smile at him then notice Kale giving us a disapproving look.
I look to Hunter and he nods getting my silent message of wanting to talk to Kale alone. “I’m going to go see if they need my help.” He points back to the barn, and I nod as he turns and walks swiftly back.
A few moments pass as I wait for Kale to say something.
He always says what’s on his mind, and I’m just waiting for the hell storm that I know is brewing, to come.
Sure enough I’m not disappointed.
“What the hell are you doing, Lexi? Are you cheating on Lucca with that guy?” He points in the direction of the barn. “I swear to God, Lexi, you’re going to break his heart. Lucca loves you how could you do this?”
“Kale, please stop right there and let me explain.” I lower my head. “I’m not cheating on Lucca. I have feelings for them both, but I am strictly with Lucca.” I look back up to Kales confused face.
I grab his hand and drag him into the house. We quickly pass by Ruby and Mel who both share a glance.
We enter the master bedroom that I share with Lucca and Hunter.
Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, I take a deep breath, letting it out slowly.
“What exactly is going on, Lex? The way Hunter looked at you wasn’t the way a friend would look at you.”
“I have a lot to tell you, Kale. So much has happened since that day you went to the hospital with……with Lucy.” He sucks in a breath and nods his head. “I’m so sorry, Kale. I shouldn’t have brought that up. Can you tell me what happened?”
“I’m just not ready to talk about it yet, Lex. I miss her so damn much. My heart still feels like its breaking.” He turns away from me and walks over to the window.
He sighs and glances at me before looking back out the window. “I’m sorry about your mom and Duncan. Hunter told us what happened. I wish I could have been here for you, Lexi.”
“I wish you would have been here too, Kale, but I had Hunter. Then Kane came and he really helped me, believe it or not.” I let out a sad laugh. “Your brother really came through for me.”
Kale turns to me with a sad smile. “Yeah, he helped me that day with Lucy. I never thought he would be the one to step in and make us better, but he did.” He sighs and brushes his hand through his hair, then looks pointedly to me. “Now stop beating around the bush and tell me what’s going on with you, Lex.”
I look to my hands trying to come up with a way to explain my relationship with Lucca and Hunter. “Well you know how Hunter took care of me, right?” Kale nods. “Well.........I kind of fell in love with him.”
>
“Shit Lexi, what about Lucca? Does he know?”
“Yes, Lucca knows and so does Hunter. God, how do I explain this?” I look to Kale. “I’m in love with both of them Kale, equally.”
“What do you mean? You’re not making much sense.”
“It’s so complicated Kale, I feel for both of them and they both know how I feel. Lucca also knows that Hunter has feelings for me too, but instead of being angry he understands it. They have kind of come to a compromise. They both just want to take care of me. ”
“So wait…..are you dating them both?”
“No, I’m only with Lucca, but no matter what Hunter is going to watch over me, he has a piece of my heart.”
“So, let me get this straight, you’re with Lucca, but you have feelings for Hunter. Lucca doesn’t care about another guy wanting to be with you?” I nod.
“I think he cares, but he doesn’t want to hurt me, Kale. I don’t know what to do about any of this, I mean should I break up with Lucca to date Hunter, or should I just stay with Lucca?”
“Stay with Lucca, but make certain that Hunter knows that you can’t be anything more than just friends.” Kale recommends and I nod in agreement.
“I think I’ve made that pretty clear. He promised to stay around to protect me no matter what though, I guess having him as a friend is better than losing him all together.” I sigh.
“I missed this, Kale. I miss us acting like friends, talking like friends do.” I gesture between us.
“I have too, Lex. It has been forever since we could just talk.”He replies with a forced smile.
I raise my eyebrow in question, but he just shakes his head and then walks out of the room.
Minutes later Kane walks into the room. “What did you say to Kale?” He asks.
“I just explained a few things. I was saying how good it was to be able to talk and be friends again, and then he just walked out on me.” Tears start clogging my eyes.
I try to blink them away as Kane sits down next to me and puts his arm around my shoulders.
“Were you trying to explain the thing between Lucca, Hunter, and yourself?” I look at Kane in shock before nodding.
“Yeah, I explained all of that to him since he thought I was cheating on Lucca, but it wasn’t until I said it was good to be talking like….” My voice trails off as it hits me.
I look to Kane in question wanting to see his reaction as I ask my next question.
“Why did Kale walked away, Kane? Please, tell me I didn’t just lose my best friend.” I plead.
“I can’t tell you what he’s thinking Lex, but I can tell you why he walked away.” He looks away from me and stands to his feet then starts to pace slowly in front of me. “Kale loves you, Lex.”
“Yes, I know he loves me. I love him, too.” I answer honestly.
He shakes his head. “No, Lex. He is in love with you. He’s always wanted to be more than just friends with you. That friend comment probably hurt his feelings, Lex.”
“What?” I blurt.
“Oh come on, Lex, you have to know he’s in love with you.” He studies my confused face.
“Kane, I had no idea. I mean he was with Lucy, he never told me he loved me that way. Why would he date Lucy if it was me he wanted to be with?” I stand and start to pace as Kane sits on the bed with a huff.
“I don’t know why he was with her. I know he truly did care about her, but he wasn’t completely in love with her. My brother isn’t smart sometimes, you know that. The only reason I know any of this is because he let it slip when we were out getting drunk together one night.”
I stop dead in my tracks. “Oh, gosh he must be completely hurt that I fell for another guy and not him, and then I just went and rubbed it into his face that we are just friends. How did this all get so messed up?” I groan and place my head into my hands. “I love him, Kane, but I love him like a brother. How do I fix this Kane?”
“You can’t fix anything this time, Lexi. He will come back to you. It’s just hard for him to always have to keep away from you.” Kane stands and pulls me into a quick hug. “I’ll go talk to him see if I can’t help. Ok?”
“Thank you, Kane. I owe you big time.” Just then it hits me.
No one had told him about Katie.
“Hey, Kane, I have something I need to tell you?”
“What is it, Lex?”
“I’m sorry that I haven’t told you this sooner……….But when I talked to Mel about the camp you all were in she told me something about Katie. You might want to sit down.”
Just then Mel comes through my door.
She must have been listening in on our conversation.
“Lex let me be the one to tell him.” I nod.
“Ok. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.” I walk off with a heavy heart.
Once downstairs I walk through the living room and into the kitchen.
No one is there so I sit down and stare off out the back door. My eyes land on my brother and mom’s graves and sadness washes over me.
I stand and walk outside toward their graves. I kneel down at my brother’s grave and run my fingers along the stones.
“I miss you, Duncan. I really wish you were here. It’s so hard to want to keep on going without you.” I pause for a moment. “Almost everyone came back. Lucy and Katie are gone though, but I guess you probably already know that.” I look to the clouds in the sky.
“I hope you’re in a good place, brother bear. I really hope there is a better place than this craziness that’s here now.” I bow my head and let a few tears escape. “I love you, Duncan. Give daddy and momma a hug and kiss for me.” I kiss my fingers and place them on the stone at the head of his grave.
When I stand I sigh as I feel strong arms wrap around my waist.
“You ok, sweetheart?” Hunter whispers in my ear.
“No, I’m not ok, Hunter. I can barely find the will to keep going.” I turn in his arms and place my hands against his chest. “I really miss my brother, Hunter.”
“I know you do, sweetheart. I wish I could have met him. I miss my sister just as much, Lexi. This feeling of pain will fade though.”
“I wish I could have met your sister too, Hunter. I really do hope this pain fades, but at the same time I don’t want to forget him.”
Hunter pushes me away still holding on to my shoulders he looks into my eyes. “Sweetheart, as long as you love him you’ll never forget him. He will always be in your heart.” He places his hand over my heart and I place my own over his.
“I love you Hunter, always.” I whisper.
“I love you too, Lexi.” He pulls me in for another hug, before another set of hands wrap around me. I smile as I’m pulled into Lucca’s embrace.
“Love you too, Lucca.”
“Love you, pumpkin’.” Lucca whispers in my ear.
“Dinners ready!” Ruby yells from the back door.
“Good, I’m starving.” Lucca growls out playfully as he tickles me. Hunter laughs.
I step away from them both and laugh.
Both of them are looking at me playfully.
I point to them both. “Don’t even think about it, no more tickling from either of you. I’m actually hungry, you know.” They both grin mischievously and stalk towards me.
I back away slowly.
“I’m not playing games guys, I’m warning you now.” I laugh knowing my warning won’t stop them. They charge toward me, but I’ve got a good head start.
I run as fast as my legs will carry me.
I find myself laughing as I dodge past Tank, who blocks the boys with a laugh of his own. I stand and watch as they try to fight their way past.
But my laughter stops when Tank lets them go and they charge straight for me again.
Just as my hand reaches the door handle Hunter scoops me up and throws me over his shoulder.
“Jesus, Hunter I didn’t figure you’d actually throw me over your shoulder.” I spank his butt and he laughs. I look up to
Lucca who has a naughty grin on his face.
Then I look quickly to Tank as he walks up behind us. “Thanks a lot for holding them back, Tank.” I laugh out as Lucca tickles my sides.
“I can only hold them back for so long.” He laughs at my fake pout and smacks my butt as he walks by.
Both Lucca and Hunter laugh loudly at my gasp of horror.
I couldn’t believe Tank had just spanked me.
“Come on guys, put me down.” I squirm while laughing as they walk into the kitchen. Ruby lets out a laugh at seeing us and spanks Lucca with her wooden spoon.
“You boys put her down.” She laughs out.
“Awe, come on Miss Ruby can’t we have a little bit of fun?” Hunter whines as he smacks my butt once more before letting me down.
I laugh as Ruby smacks him with the wooden spoon and he jumps out of her way before she can get in another hit.
“Get your butts into those chairs and eat.” She keeps smacking them until they put their hands up in surrender and sit quickly into the nearest chairs.
“Thank you, Ruby.” I side hug her and grin smugly to the boys.
I sit between Lucca and Hunter as Kale, Kane and Ace come into the kitchen and sit.
Everyone is quiet.
I bow my head not sure what to say to either of the brothers.
Thankfully Tank breaks the silence.
“Where’s that other young girl, Melody?”
“She wasn’t feeling good and decided to stay in bed. I’ll take some food up to her after dinner.” Kane replies as Ruby sets our plates in front of us.
“Is she going to be alright?” I ask quietly.
A few moments go by before Kane answers me. “Yeah, she will be fine. She just needs some rest.”
I glance at Kale his head is bowed and he’s silently eating his food.
Out of the corner of my eye I see Kane shake his head no.
I sigh and slowly eat my food.
The rest of dinner goes by in silence. No one knows what to say to the other and for once I’m glad not to have to say anything.
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